The present invention relates generally to saucers for holding plants. More particularly, it relates to a saucer that keeps the potted plant elevated above the water collecting in the saucer during watering or precipitation.
There are many prior art devices designed to protect the surface beneath a potted plant. These take the form of plastic trays that prevent the water from contacting the floor or deck. However, when these trays collect even a minimal amount of water, the user must either remove the water from the tray or let the base of the pot soak in the water. It is well known that letting the pot soak in water for even relatively short periods of time promotes root rot, which is one of the most common, if not the most common, cause of death for plants.
The present invention takes the form of a plant saucer having a plurality of internal risers extending upward from the base of the saucer. The internal risers may be of any convenient height to allow excess water to drain from one or more pots placed thereon. The internal risers may be anywhere between 0.25 inch to 6.0 inches in height. The internal risers hold the pot up substantially from the base level of the saucer, thereby allowing a substantial amount of water to drain into the saucer without building up water within the pot itself. The height of the internal risers also promotes air circulation below the pot to allow any water therein to quickly evaporate, thereby inhibiting root rot from standing water. This also allows for quick and effective humidification of the air around the plant. The internal risers may be of any suitable shape, such as a round footprint with sloped sides, square, rectangular or have any other suitable regular or irregular shape. The risers may have a diameter of anywhere from 0.1 to 5.0 inches. The shape of the internal risers shown is flat with a textured top surface to promote traction between the bottom of the pot and the top of the riser. The internal riser may also have ribs extending up the sides of the riser. The ribs strengthen the riser, thereby allowing the riser to support more weight.
The saucer has a plurality of feet extending downward from the base of the saucer. The feet shown are generally rectangular and/or curved and have a flat bottom surface. The feet may be virtually any height from approximately 0.05 inches. The feet could be used to place the saucer at any height above the ground. For typical situations, a height between 0.05 and 2.0 inches is preferred. The feet may be straight and/or curved, as shown, or they may be jagged or take other forms.
The saucer may be made of any suitable material, such as plastic, metal, etc. Currently the saucers are made of a translucent frosted plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET). The saucers may also come in a variety of other frosted, clear or opaque colors and styles, including terra cotta, hunter green, red, white, gold, silver, blue, etc. The saucer may be formed in any suitable manner, including vacuum forming, compression molding, injection molding, etc.
The material for the saucer may optionally include additives or coatings. For example, Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) may be used. BT is a bacterium that is virtually non-toxic to plants, humans and pets, but causes disease in insects, thereby inhibiting the maturation of mosquito larvae.